


girl from the tea shop

by AllHailProHeroThirteen04102016



Series: First Time Writing (And Making a Shitton of Writer Mistakes) [11]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Gen, Light Angst, Major Character Undeath, Misunderstandings, Original Character(s), Reincarnation, Self-Indulgent, Self-Insert, not really reincarnation she's just hijacking a princess' bod
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:48:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25586191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllHailProHeroThirteen04102016/pseuds/AllHailProHeroThirteen04102016
Summary: At some point someone wanted to kill Azula. In another universe they were unsuccessful and she goes her merry way out of prison, doing things her way.In another, they succeeded, and a dead person happens to hijack her cooling corpse. Said dead person doesn't figure out she's Azula for a while.
Series: First Time Writing (And Making a Shitton of Writer Mistakes) [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1720624
Comments: 11
Kudos: 98





	girl from the tea shop

**Author's Note:**

> Anyone's welcome to use this idea. (Just give me some credit.)
> 
> This is an author self-insert and I have not watched Avatar for over a decade, and therefore so has Emily, my self-insert.
> 
> (In case there are readers who are already familiar with me, yes this is the same Emily I keep using for all of my isekai and reincarnation fics.)
> 
> Warning: Things are extremely convenient here. There not much struggle in finding her place in the world lol this is seriously super self-indulgent.

Whoever said that blood was nice can go die in a ditch.

Maybe whoever this girl was said that and presumed to die in a ditch. Emily had no idea.

What she did have an idea of was that she's probably somewhere in an Asian country? Her clothes resembles it.

It's black and red silk, with patterns embroidered into it. Emily immediately adored her wear, even if it was bloodstained from a previously fatal wound. It reminded her of what her late grandmother would make for her back when she was young.

It's unfortunate that she died and didn't reunite with grandma "Leo." But hey, she's alive and kicking, probably in another world (or even time period) and she's gonna suffer homesickness for a while huh?

(Fuck, she misses her fam already.)

After inspecting herself, it's not hard to figure out that she got beaten up, shanked and thrown in the ditch she woke up in. Whoever she was, she's probably rich and got targeted and robbed. Maybe that's why there's a mask in her pocket? Not like it helped.

What should she do now?

She finds a river. Hooray.

It's a pain to walk when you feel like a walking bruise.

She washes her face and only then realized she was wearing makeup. And that she's pretty.

Holy fudge, she's super pretty. Emily is now pretty.

Like, princess of wuxia novel pretty. It's a little unfair that someone could be born this pretty. There were bruises on her face, and it looked...not that bad. Huh.

Emily was tempted to strip and clean herself there, but enough folk stories told her that a naked, beautiful young woman all alone was just inviting trouble. So that's a no.

Maybe she could follow up the river. Human civilization usually followed bodies of water.

She was right. And there's a village.

They kept giving her suspicious looks until she confesses that she's a lost traveler who got mugged and had her butt beaten and she had to scavenge for clothes at some abandoned wagon.

"Do you know bending?" They ask.

Her brow furrows. "No."

Their clothes were made with hemp and cotton. The old lady who was kind enough to give her a bowl of rice and some broth got startled when Emily burst into tears. People were so nice!

(But after that, there's a weird misunderstanding like she went through a lot.)

She had exchanged her expensive clothes for some traveling clothes, a cloak and some food. Some part of her knew that her clothes were more expensive than that, but at least she can travel somewhere much better.

She has to go to a city.

Emily was a spoiled girl. So was whoever she was, but that person is more athletic. And shockingly flexible; she learned that when she tripped on a rock then slipped on mud, ingrained reflexes saving her from humiliation.

There was an old woman and her grandmother who planned to go to "Ba Sing Se", using a weird creature to pull her wagon. They were nice enough to let her ride along (after she promised not to use any of their supplies on the way) while trading stories.

"Hundred Year War?" She parroted. Were the Tudors here?

"It's finally over," the young girl, Kana, cut in. "Grandmother is not so sure that it is, but there are talks already."

Oh. Good.

Emily wouldn't know what to do in a war.

"That means more business for us!" She crowed. "Once we set things up, and when the defenses lighten a little there will be more customers!"

Emily can't help smiling at her enthusiasm. "When I get a job, I'll visit."

But first, she'll have to ask them how to function as a member of this foreign society. Emily doesn't even know what prices of food were! And the meat is more complicated now that they're a bunch of weird hybrids.

The monster- _thing_ (?)- beast of burden has to rest at some point so they're all huddled around a campfire. The other two had their thin cloths as a mat and blanket while Emily was cuddling her bag of clothes.

Emily sneezed.

The fire suddenly grew larger and turned blue before going back to normal.

The two of them jumped, while Emily was groaning and wiping the mess off her face. "Ew," śhe winced.

"Young lady, are you a firebender?" The old lady asked, frowning in growing suspicion of the stranger. The stranger gives her a confused look.

"No?" She looked down at herself. "Do I look like one?" She asks obliviously.

"I...never mind."

She gets left behind.

Emily was left gaping at the sheer audacity.

She still had her pack with her, but they "forgot" to give her damn bento.

A part of her wanted to hurl curses at the sky, very loudly, because she's nowhere near the damn "big city." Another part sneered at the thought of doing something so...unrefined.

Fucking _fine_ , she won't swear then.

She punched a rock. It didn't hurt as much as it should have. But how should she know, for all she knew this body just escaped some shady lab and is super resilient.

She hopes it's resilient.

She stumbles upon another village. Should it be considered as a village? It looks like it's in a better condition than the first one she'd encountered. Probably because they're used to receiving travelers.

A kid tries to pickpocket her and nearly ends up breaking an arm for it. Emily lets go of him, shocked, and the kid kicks her shin (she doesn't buckle) and runs for it.

Ah, she shouldn't have done that. She didn't have much money; just the stuff she picked up from the ground which she doubted would amount to anything substantial.

Shaking her head, Emily goes around, and figures out how to use her new pretty face to get some sympathy. She gets a free bowl of broth for it, but she had to pay for the rice. It's filling. Emily didn't know how much of a luxury eating three times a day, everyday her entire life, until she was forced to ration her food.

She goes around observing the market stalls, watching people haggle and sell items higher than the price the girl from the carriage told her. Makes sense when they're a resting stop for travelers. What village? It's basically a tourist gift shop. And the main attraction was the city.

Emily gets her protein by observing the butcher in the market and tries to emulate it with some weird gecko.

It's poisonous. But her body was apparently resistant to the poison because all it achieved was making her feel weak for three hours than kill her outright.

Whoever this body was, she's freaky.

It took her going to the city to realize that the world resembles too much a cartoon series she hasn't seen since she was seven.

Hearing enough rumors on the Avatar and his little entourage just confirmed it.

(Why do people keep asking if she's a bender though? Does she look like one? How do you even tell????)

On the bright side, the war was over and there are more people visiting. That meant businesses wanted more workers.

The place willing to take her, someone with no job experience, was a tea shop in the "Middle Ring." As a waitress. Her pay was equal to other newbies, who didn't look displeased. At least the pay was enough, right?

Right?????

It takes a while for Emily to notice the difference between her and normal people around her. The difference of the benders and non-benders amongst her customers.

Non-benders are more...normal, in a sense. Benders move differently, fluidly. She'd seen Toph in the markets (very obvious, a blind little girl navigating the crowd with ease wasn't a common sight even for others) and the girl moved and listened to the unheard beat of the earth. Other earth benders were similar, but were too stiff and not as connected(?).

Emily swears she doesn't understand her thought processes these days.

Bah, she'll just focus on her Boss's compliments on her services. She's pretty and has a good enough posture when serving tea that customers are caught thibking that they're some place fancier. And she's mindful of the customers' comfort. Locals like her. The compliments were nice, but the pay raise was even nicer.

"Here you go. Enjoy." Emily says.

The round faced customer was giving her a dumbfounded look. Emily wanted to sigh. _Look, I know I'm pretty, but don't you know staring is rude?_ She raised an eyebrow at the customer, not daring to act rude again.

Her friend arrives and gapes along. "Azula?!" The man yells, giving Emily a mini heart attack. She looks around, equally panicked.

"Huh, where?!"

Someone snickers and puts their hands on her shoulders. Emily had to bite her cheek to stop the knee-jerk reaction to grabbing them and _breaking their arm-_ \- "She kinda looks like her, right?" Her co-worker chuckled a little nervously. _What are you so nervous for?_ She wanted to snap.

"...she does. I'm so sorry for frightening you!" The man--who turned out to be a teenage boy -- bowed. People were looking, some giving her angry looks.

"Ah, it's alright." She awkwardly patted their shoulder. "Just don't yell that anymore or the other customers might panic again, okay?"

The two gives her an odd look. "What?" She snapped feeling a bit defensive. Their stares made her feel embarrassed enough for her cheeks to turn red.

"I don't see how I thought you were her, you're _nothing_ like Azula--"

She leaves, too weirded out.

She pokes Boss's back. He looks at her. Emily cups her cheeks and gives him an innocent look.

"What."

"Do I look like Azula?"

He sneered. It didn't look hateful, at least.

"You're no princess. Now go back to work."

Some guards disagreed.

There has been several times that she got arrested for "escaping the prisons" or for certain "war crimes" (she knew that one was false) but eventually got released when they figured out that she's not the crazy bitch or when someone recognized her and yelled at the guards who arrested her because it's been the nth time since she got dragged to the same misunderstanding over and over again. So Emily stopped trying to explore what was praised to be the biggest city in the world.

When they charged in the damn Lucky Tea Shop, Emily snapped and started crying before running to one of the unoccupied private rooms.

The Boss and her co-workers (ones she didn't realize she'd befriended) got her back and got in a bit of trouble for it.

"Emi didn't do shit!" One of them yelled. "She jumps at her fucking shadow what makes you think she can plot a coupe?!"

Yeahhhh that was an eventful week.

The round faced girl (the first one to think that she was Azula) apologizes on their behalf. She can't imagine her to be someone in charge of such jackasses, especially when she can't bend, airheaded, talks about "auras" (was that a thing in Avatar?) and always shifting her gravity on her toes. But the look in her eyes told her she can hold her own, and Emily begrudgingly accepts the unwanted apology.

She wants the dumbass soldiers to beg for forgiveness and repent through labor, but you can't have everything you wanted.

"Are you happy here?" She asks out of the blue. But the concern was genuine and cute.

(How does she know that this person is nervous, that this person is sincere, when all her presence made her feel was utter betrayal and loneliness?)

Emily doesn't think much of it, smiling at her openly. "Not yet. I will be, eventually."

The world changes. There are talks of peace and people in power actually doing things to make it happen.

The tea shop was fine.

Until Zuko arrived.

Emily wasn't blind. Much. He was a meme still being used for over a decade since the series ended, and kept alive thanks to certain communities comparing him and Todoroki Shouto. Plus, black hair and huge scar? Not very inconspicuous, unless you were renting out one of the private rooms at the back Boss insisted was for celebrities who wanted privacy. Emily was pretty sure that room was the remnants of that old drug den her co-workers gossiped about sometimes.

(Boss repurposed the weird stuff there into something that fit a certain aesthetic. What kind of aesthetic involved a shady window and torches, she doesn't know.)

Then the rest of the Gaang arrived and joined him.

While she breathed a sigh of relief when another waitress brought their meals. Then a heart attack when she was told to take away their plates and refill their tea.

Her face was stiff, a pleasant, relaxed exterior forced into place while her mind was going _AHHHHHHHHHH_ from both panic and fangirling.

(She identified them easily; there were markings, process of elimination and how they talk in general.

 _AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH_.)

At least the mess of her thoughts helped her tune out what might be a private conversation. It felt like she's intruding on something she's not meant to see.

While she was pouring tea, her hands shook slightly. She kind of wanted to ask Katara for an autograph; her childhood self always drew her because she'd been her favourite character for the cool bloodbending.

(Yet, they look and act like _children_ , not the legendary figures to-be who ended the war and peaceful politicians she hears about. The reality of this was a little bit...)

It's her fucking _childhood_ in the flesh, give her a break.

"Excuse me?"

She looked at Toph. "Yes?" (Oh my God it's Toph, she's cute and dainty but tough, as expected of the rumoured "greatest earthbender in the world" like holy fudge--)

"Are you Princess Azula?" The blunt questioning took her aback, as well as her friends. For a moment, the red flames in the decorative torch glows blue in her distress.

"Er, no. I'm Emi. Nobody noble. People told me a lot that I looked like her."

Sokka looked like he's gonna say something unnecessary or mean or both, so Emily puts down the tea kettle, grabbed the dirty dishes and walks away, frustrated.

Maybe she _was_ Azula.

She didn't even know how cartoon people were supposed to look like in real life, and she's read enough Naruto fanfiction to know that multiverse and bodysnatching was a Thing for self-insert tropes.

As if getting arrested several times wasn't enough, that apparently was enough to generate rumors for someone who hated Azula to chase her.

She had to dodge _fire_ aimed for her head. It was so unexpected her reflexes had saved her from getting her pretty face burned.

("Do I look like Fire Nation royalty to you?!" She yelled, reflexes still saving her life from the constant assault. "In case you haven't noticed, or trying to emulate our famous, _blind_ earthbender, I'll have to tell you I'm not your precious tyrant princess." She sneered, anger and disdain simmering in her expression.

"The way you talk is enough proof," they declared and honestly that's bullshit. Emily couldn't resist; she threw a rock at their heads.

It hits.

"God, the earthbenders here are pathetic. No wonder a little girl is considered the greatest if the standards are as low as they could get to have guards like you."

Emily wasn't used to people caring about her words. So them getting pissed off was a bug surprise. Oops! Gotta go!)

There was a deep sense of humiliation at having to run away at what some part of her that yelled " _that's a weak fry why are you running away?!_ " then the fucking assassins threw blades like they're in Naruto instead of Avatar, reminding her of her mortality.

Emily wanted to run to a crowd and cry out for help, but these guys had managed to steer her towards a route where they won't encounter even a _single_ non-corrupt guard!

She throws a rock at every guard that turns a blind eye to her plight. Assholes deserved it.

(Anger and fear rose and fell and swirled in her chest like a sea of fire, violent and strong like a storm. The waves of feelings continue to rise and rise and rise--)

Here's a fanfiction trope: a main character saves her.

It doesn't happen until it was too late, they're in the lower rings of the city when they managed to stab her leg to make sure she stopped running and in her panic she accidentally firebends.

It's not bright blue flames that nearly burned them to a crisp.

(--rise and falls down with a crash.)

No, it's fucking lightning channels through her body and towards the humans wearing a bunch of daggers and metals like the perfect lightning rod.

The only thing the main character saved her from was falling on her ass, scared and tired.

"Are you alright?" Katara asked.

Huh? Why's she asking that? That little show was enough to let them know that she's Azula. Or in her body; Azula was dead and Emily lived. She should be angry, hostile, arresting her on the spot for attempted _murder_ \--

She places a little flask in her shaking hands. Oh, her hands were shaking. She drinks the water. Cold.

"What happened?"

Inhale. Exhale. The water was cold and clean. The waterbender's clothes were blue and made of cotton. The street was filthy and grey. There was noise of people being ushered away, some adults watching the pair with trepidation.

Swallow.

She is Emily.

Not--

"I, they thought I was Azula. I told them I wasn't but they didn't care, they just wanted to kill her and I'm kind of close, I guess?" She coughs. "Am I Azula?"

"Are you?"

"No idea, I don't remember much," she confesses. "I woke up at some ditch not knowing anything. I don't know." She repeated.

"Would you like to come with me?"

Emily remembers why Katara was her favourite. (She inspired Emily to try to follow her dream of becoming an artist.) She's kind and dependent, and grew strong. She's offering protection, but also possibly leading her to an unwanted confrontation.

Emily is hungry. Maybe they'll feed her. She's gonna be a guest, so she's probably gonna be fed.

She didn't want to stay in this part of the Earth Kingdom anymore.

Emily complies.

Being on the same table as Zuko and Iroh was awkward. Both of them looked sad and wary. Emily resisted the urge to fiddle with her tea cup.

Iroh hasn't seen the kind of innocence in Azula's eyes ever since her father killed it in his ambition.

They try to bring up memories. Some of them felt familiar, some weren't, some Emily could recall. It wasn't pleasant to remember. She didn't need issues concerning family when she's mourning the fact that she can't see her real family anymore. Turtleducks were cute, though. The weird sketch of the animal hybrid wasn't weird but more like a cartoon, even if Zuko grumbles about Sokka's weird drawings.

They offer her a place to stay.

(More like a place where they'd keep a closer eye on her, within arm's reach. It doesn't hurt, but it made the tea taste a bit more bitter than it should.

Iroh used to have a kinder and gentler gaze towards her. Zuko used to look at her like an irritating bratty sibling.

She's just an anomaly, an unwanted baggage they didn't expect but tried to welcome.

She doesn't want it. This makeshift family.

Made her sick.

She says no.)

Toph informs her that she's getting underpaid, severely so, at the Lucky Tea Shop. That kind of hurt, but understandable.

(She doesn't resent Boss. She's just hoping he had good reason for it. If not, then he's hurting his workers.)

Iroh was shamelessly showing off his nepotism by offering her a job at his old tea shop, the Jasmine Dragon, with a better wage.

She finds out too late that his old tea shop was moved into the Fire Nation. Smooth move, Iroh. Taking advantage of an _amnesiac_ as well.

She slips and calls Iroh "Uncle."

It feels weird, and his reaction to that was weird.

Emily asks him if it was alright to call him that.

There was a heavy feel of guilt that didn't quite belong to her when he seemed happy at the small gesture of consideration.

Guilt that she's keeping them all at arm's length because she's not jamming the impostor syndrome so well.

("Perhaps this is how she would've been if she was raised with love." She hears, one day.

Emily resisted the urge to vomit.

She needs to get away.)

Life wasn't very eventful. Maybe she'd see main characters as one of the customers but they don't interact with her much.

Her current relationship with Zuko was cordial and a but awkward. But he seems to be happy that "Azula" was doing better now. He clearly has issues, but who doesn't when they're related to her?

Uncle Iroh frustrates her when he's being a cryptic little ass, but he's very nice, and it becomes more genuine once he warmed up to her.

He tries to teach her to fight. Emily was very bad at it without the fight that was carved in the body bone deep. The blue fire surprised her, and the lightning made her cringe at the memories accompanying the flash of light and the scent of ozone. (She could almost smell the burnt flesh.)

Emily decided that she didn't like fighting. Iroh was surprised and a bit disappointed, but ultimately fine with it; he knew the story from Katara. He instead teaches her the little things he taught Zuko. The whole breathing thing that would warm her up would be helpful if she goes somewhere cold.

Once she saved up enough, she buys art materials. It's more than a little expensive to get the decent stuff, but it's worth being able to draw after a long time of being deprived of the passion. She wasn't sure if it's possible to make a career out of this.

People are perfectly willing to buy her portraits of the legendary figures who ended the war, even when she put in a high price.

Once she earned enough, she starts travelling.

"Where will you go?"

"Wherever life takes me. I want to draw the world."

_I want to go far away and stop being Azula._

_I want to be free._

"Be careful. Wear a mask in case someone recognizes you."

"I will, Uncle."

Emily doesn't write back to those who write to her.

She's not Azula. She's not a happier version of her, even if everyone looked at her like she was. She's not good with words, not good at deflecting, not good at making it her responsibility to cater to the emotions of someone else even when she tries. (Well, that's something she has in common with the dead girl.)

Azula faces her problems head on, blindly, like a bull.

Emily just runs away.

She paints. She sells them. People eventually recognize her as Emi, an artist who travels wherever she wants.

She paints. She creates special drawings in response to her worried Uncle and brother.

She makes the mistake of sending them a landscape portrait because they managed to track down her location with it and had cajoled her into visiting the Fire Lord. She swears she'll never draw another landscape painting for them ever again.

Emily goes to the palace wearing her travel clothes and mask. She sketches the Gaang while they were talking together; most other drawings of them were too stiff, so she sketches and would later color them in less realistic coloring. She draws Iroh with a peaceful, devious curve on his lips while talking politics.

Nobility were weirded out by her presence and she ignores some barbed remarks towards her. She draws them as well.

When she leaves, her next portraits of the Gaang are updated. There are now caricatures of politicians in the mix.

Her more _politically_ involved artworks were signed in another alias.

She still travels a lot, not wanting to get involved whatever conflict that would no doubt rise up when they're wrangling the world into the idea of peace.

When she gets word on the marriage of the Fire Lord, she sends her second landscape drawing to Iroh. Sure enough, she gets an invite to the wedding.

Emily still was in a disguise. But many veterans recognized her. A nod from Zuko eases them only slightly, he had allowed his younger sister to attend his wedding, and they trust his judgement.

These days, Princess Azula wasn't spoken of except in whispers. All they know about was a masked painter they called "Emi Lee" who drew odd but interesting things. They speak of her with amusement after she had drawn a portrait using Sokka's odd drawings, or whenever she'd be helping around the tea shop, sassing customers who had sticks up their ass. Other than that, she tends to be more like a ghost haunting the continent.

She avoids conflicts while she can, but she visits when the Fire Lord's children are born to draw them in their milestones. Someday in the future photograph will be invented, but Emi was the best at the time. She does capture moments very well.

Zuko was so touched she got a hug. Emily hugs him back, patting his back awkwardly. (Awkward sibling hug!)

The family-thing was a little weird, but it's nice.

"Emi Lee" ends up being an eccentric Aunt who brings gifts and trinkets from the corners of the world. Even her half-sister was weirded out by her. When Iroh died they bury her gifts for him with him. She doesn't even try to talk to Azula's mom, and _wow_ she didn't even _know_ that the Mom was alive!

(It brought up all sorts of complicated feelings that she didn't want to address.)

Many years pass of avoiding the bullshit conflicts and Emily realizes that her current lifestyle wasn't as profitable anymore with all the advancements occuring. So she settles somewhere near the Air Temple and actually tries spending time with family.

It's Sokka's kid who figures out her identity. Not Sokka's kid, but Aang's youngest child who figured out who she was. Smart kid.

She gives him a bunch of her drawings, telling him to keep them in mint condition for the sake of having surviving possessions of Azula, a key character of the war. It's gonna be fun having a bit of legacy.

It's when she died that her identity was revealed. People were scrambling to find the drawings she had painstakingly worked on.

Someday, Avatar Korra gets to see artifacts being auctioned and displayed in museums, including Emi Lee's artworks.

The man on the stage tells a story of rediscovery of one's identity and an unspoken love etched into ink and rich colors smeared over canvas and paper.

A turtleduck eating bread addressed to "Zuzu," Prince Zuko, and drawings of tea and their corresponding ingredients with notes of "your beloved leaf juice is everywhere but the Water Tribe's area" and such.

Landscape drawings of the places she visited, before the industrialization of most of the world. The growth of cities. The low and high tides by the lakes and beaches. Animals they don't see much of anymore due to pollution, drawn roaming in villages.

Portraits drawn is as if it were a colored photograph, and some colored in bright colors like green and red, contrasts that stood out amongst the rest of the artifacts.

(It was a style Emi Lee, Azula was known for, with it's uniqueness, and would later be the cause of debates amongst scholars whether or not she was colorblind.)

Political arts that had swayed public opinion a few times; and possibly caused the revival of rights for the right balance equality and equity.

Other than that, Emily's life wasn't much of a splash. But she had fun.

That's what mattered.

**Author's Note:**

> I had no idea how to end this lol.
> 
> Edit: (08/25/20) Just realized something.  
>  SI: I'm not like Azula!  
> also SI: *throws a rock at Earthbender out of spite*  
>  Me: *gets reminded of that episode where Zuko challenges Katara while they're surrounded by water* I see no difference.


End file.
